The Queen will step down as patron of 25 national organisation

From the BBC: "The Queen will step down as patron of 25 national organisations at the end of this year, says Buckingham Palace."

Prince Charles carried out 527 official engagements in 2015, the most ever. I presume he'll have carried out more during 2016. The Queen won't abdicate. Her sense of duty is solid as Gibraltar. But her number of official engagements, patronages, etc., will continue to be reduced.

The patronages, including the NSPCC, Save the Children, Barnardo's and Battersea Dog's Home, will be passed on to other members of the Royal Family.Rugby Football Union, the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Association and the Royal Geographical Society are also affected.

The Queen is royal patron of more than 600 bodies - 433 of which she has been patron of since 1952.

Buckingham Palace said the announcement was the start of a process that would see patronages passed on to other Royal Family members in the coming months.

The Queen will continue to serve as patron to hundreds of charities and institutions but will now share this work with her family, the palace added.

Image: "She visited Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in March 2015, having been patron of the charity for nearly 60 years." (BBC; Reuters photograph)